Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York--he in computers, she in special education. "Teaching means everything to us," Tim would say. In April1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's purpose.
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金會) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee.“I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire," Tim recalls.  He placed the brochure on his desk, "as a reminder."
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. “We didn’t want to give the children rubbish,” says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members-included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books I’ve never heard of .”
The Richters spend about ＄400 a month sending books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die,” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”
【小題1】
What led Tim to think seriously about the meaning of life?

________ was it that made the singer  ______ his Asia Tour Concerts.

對話填空 (共10小題；每小題1分，滿分10分)

A: He is very good, isn’t he?

B: Sorry, what did you say?

A: I 1.s__________ the singer was great.

B: Yes, and interesting to watch.

A: Have you seen him here 2.b_________?

B: Oh, yes. He’s always at 3. e__________ the same place on Saturdays when I come into town. I think he probably 4.w__________ the music and words by himself, 5.b________ I’ve 6.n________ heard any of the songs before.

A: It’s not fair

B: What do you 7.m__________?

A: People with musical ability 8. l_________him have to stand around here to make a living.

B: Perhaps he enjoys 9.i_________ or more money than you think.

A: I 10. h_________ so.

The singer and dancer _____ asked to sing a song in public, and she agreed happily.

A. is        B. was         C. are      D. were

As a saying goes, when life gives you lemons, then make lemonade. But how is delicious lemonade made from sour lemons?
Singer-actor Yu Haoming knows how. He’s   36__ difficulties by returning to the stage. After a   37___ left him scarred, the 25-year-old man   38___ for the first time on Hunan TV’s New Year Concert on Dec. 31, 2012.
His comeback captured (吸引) audiences’   39___. They went to his Weibo page and left messages such as, “You’ve taught me what toughness means.” and “I’m   40___ of your courage. You moved me to tears by taking off your mask and    41___ onward in confidence. ”
Only Yu himself knew how   42 __it was to stand on his feet again after disaster   43 __When his career as a handsome Super Boy singer and   44   actor took off, Yu got seriously burnt. He was hurt in 2010 when an explosive scene in the TV drama I Have a Date With Spring went wrong   45__ His wounds became worse because of delayed   46___ .
The bums were far more than just wounds and pain for Yu. “You can’t   47___ what kind of sufferings he’s been through and how hard he’s been working to get well，” said his father on the singer’s blog.
His recovery has been long and difficult. Some people might have   48 __during such a process, but Yu has   49  _ not to. He says he still has his dreams.
__ 50   medicine, checkups and therapy (治療）exercises, he plays the piano a bit every day, reads books about acting and learns English.
The idiom, “  51__ bitten, twice shy”，doesn’t really apply to him. In August he restarted to film his   52__ in the drama，although he admitted that fears still haunted (縈繞) him sometimes.
“Why should I let the experience stop me going after my   53___ ?” he told the Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly in early December.
How did Yu make lemonade? “Life gave me the   54___ gift, and I’ve just got to get on with it and turn difficulties into    55   , ’’ he told the magazine.